The technical note calls for raising awareness among practitioners and policymakers about the importance of strong tobacco control measures for protecting the health and development of children, including banning tobacco advertising, implementing 100% smoke-free environments and raising taxes on tob...acco.
Exposure to tobacco smoke has devastating impacts throughout childhood and adolescence, starting from conception.
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An interdisciplinary approach to address global health challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, loss of biodiversity, human migration has been framed by the One Health approach. This approach is promoted at global level by the Tripartite of the World Health Organisation, the World A...nimal Health Organisation, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, recently joint by the United National Environment Program to form the Quadripartite. The German government through its Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development supports this approach with its One Health strategy and investment in several technical cooperation projects.
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This exploratory study carried out in Coastal Kenya by TUM - funded and supported by CBM – draws attention to monetisable social factors in the measurement of impacts of livelihood promotion. When NGOs in development cooperation try to capture the effects of livelihood promotion programmes for the... target group (e.g. persons with disabilities) and their families, it is not enough to only look at the individual’s income or consider common business economics measurements (like Return on Investment) but to look more widely on the changes in the Quality of Life. This study tried to apply the so called Social Return on Investment (SROI) approach in the field of livelihood promotion. For this goal a general formula was developed and field-tested to account for a broad range of (social) impacts.
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Urogenital schistosomiasis is a common neglected tropical disease in many rural communities in African countries, with patches of infection in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Globally, an estimated 239 million people are currently infected, with burden estimated at more than 3.5 million disability...-adjusted life years (DALYs). In many endemic areas, severely infected individuals may suffer fibrosis of the bladder, kidney damage, bladder cancer, and death if untreated. This, however, depends on several factors such as host-parasite genetics, degree and length of exposure, intensity of infection, host immune response to the parasites, and coinfections with other tropical diseases such as malaria and HIV-1.
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Application of a One Health approach .
The present guidance was developed with the support of the WHO Advisory Group on Integrated Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance (AGISAR) to assist countries and other stakeholders in the establishment and development of programmes of integrated surveillan...ce of antimicrobial resistance in the foodborne bacteria (i.e., bacteria commonly transmitted by food) by taking a One Health approach.
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Vector-borne diseases are responsible for 17% of the global burden of communicable diseases and more than 500 000 deaths annually. The ambitious global targets for the control of vector-borne diseases come in the context of the (re-)emergence of diseases, increasing resistances to insecticides and u...ncertainty related to the financing of global vector control efforts. The United Nations 2030 Agenda with its related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the New Urban Agenda adopted at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III)
in Quito in 2016 and WHO’s Global vector control response 2017–2030 (WHO, 2017a) emphasize the value of elevating multisectoral actions and strategies that extend beyond the health sector to the core of integrated vector control.
This policy brief underlines the important role housing conditions have in the transmission of vector-borne diseases and showcases interventions and policies the housing sector can contribute to effective, integrated and intersectoral vector-borne diseases management.
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Debt has become a substantial burden for developing countries due to limited access to financing, rising borrowing costs, currency devaluations and sluggish growth. These factors compromise the countries’ ability to react to emergencies, tackle climate change and invest in their people and the fut...ure. The latest report, A World of Debt, discusses the actions needed to unleash the resources needed to build a more prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable world.
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The WHO estimates that 19 million children aged 15 years or younger are visually impaired. Of these, 1.4 million are irreversibly blind and need visual rehabilitation interventions for full psychological and personal development. The remainder have visual problems that could be prevented or treated.... Identifying children with visual problems early in life so that they can benefit from medical and optical interventions remains a key challenge for most child eye health programmes. Reports from various low-and middle-income countries indicate that the age of children undergoing operation for cataract is frequently too high to achieve maximum benefit.
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This case study takes a closer look at experiences in three countries and one sub-region, each with a unique profile, a specific set of challenges and opportunities, and differing levels of WASH competencies. Through the lens of the participating National Societies and the communities they serve, th...is study captures rich layers of learning from multi-country implementation between 2016 to 2020.
The unfolding of the COVID-19 pandemic gives a glimpse of the resulting global restrictions that are testing aspects of National Society capacity and preparedness on the ground. It is an opportunity to take stock of progress and the outlook ahead - to celebrate achievements and share experiences with National Societies and partners contemplating capacity development in emergency WASH in the Asia Pacific region.
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Achieving financial risk protection for the whole population requires significant financing for health. Health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) are plagued with persistent underfunding, and recent reductions in official development assistance have been registered. To create fiscal
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space for health, the pursuit of efficiency gains and exploring innovative health financing for health seem attractive. This paper sought to synthesize available evidence on the nature of innovative health financing instruments, mechanisms and policies implemented in Africa. We further reviewed the factors that hinder or facilitate implementation, the lessons learnt on the structure, the development process and the implementation.
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This document highlights the latest WHO recommendations designed to optimize health outcomes, streamline delivery and address persistent barriers to prevention and care. It especially focuses on people often left behind in service delivery, including adolescents and young people, key populations and... people with advanced HIV disease. The guidance emphasizes integration, simplification, choice and equity.
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Primary care can play a significant role in the COVID-19 response by differentiating patients with respiratory symptoms from those with COVID-19, making an early diagnosis, helping vulnerable people cope with their anxiety about the virus, and reducing the demand for hospital services. This document... provides national and subnational health managers, as well as staff at primary care facilities, with interim guidance on timely, effective and safe supportive management of patients with suspected and confirmed COVID-19 at the primary care level; and delivery of essential health services at the primary care level during the COVID-19 outbreak
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Onchocerciasis used to be an important public health problem in Africa, with over 37 million people infected and millions suffering from debilitating skin disease, terrible itching, impaired vision and
blindness. But the epidemiological situation has improved dramatically over the last two decades.... Community directed treatment with ivermectin has effectively brought the disease under control in most endemic areas where onchocerciasis is no longer a public health risk.
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• Clashes continued between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), and Turkish backed forces, concentrated around the M4 highway and Tal Tamer district in Al-Hasakeh. Further displacement was reported.
• Several civilian casualties occurred due to improvised explosive ...devices (IEDs) in Afrin, Quamishli, and along the Tell Abiad-Ras al-Ain corridor. On 16 November, a car bomb in Al Bab, Aleppo reportedly killed 14 people and injured 27, including civilians.
• On 13 November, Alouk water station was repaired following reconnection of the Debarseyah supply line, again restoring water to 460,000 people in Al-Hasakeh city and surrounding areas
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As information about COVID-19 is rapidly evolving, it can be challenging to navigate and synthesize all of the information. The purpose of this document is to provide a synthesized, indexed reference of accurate, standardized COVID-19 information from trustworthy sources. Information is presented in... simple, clear language to support the development of messages and materials needed for social and behavior change interventions.
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Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. The decade ahead will test the nation's nearly 4 million nurses in new and complex ways. Nurses live and work at the intersection of health, education, and communities. Nurses work in a wide array of settings and practice at a range of professional levels. T...hey are often the first and most frequent line of contact with people of all backgrounds and experiences seeking care and they represent the largest of the health care professions.
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The BRACED Myanmar Alliance was a three-year project aiming to ‘build the resilience of 350,000 people across Myanmar to climate extremes’. The project worked in 7 states, 8 townships and 155 communities. The main impact for project populations was intended to be ‘improved well-being and reduc...ed loss and damage despite climate shocks’, and the project sought to do this by addressing immediate hazard-related needs at community level while encouraging longer-term solutions driven and delivered by communities and subnational and national government.
Community Resilience Assessments (CRAs) were the first activities delivered as part of the project, and the list of community-identified needs became the basis from which local-level project interventions were selected. The selection typically involved an infrastructure requirement (linked to addressing a natural hazard, and sometimes shared between communities); a package of livelihood support (assets and trainings); capacity-building on climate change/resilience topics; and village savings and loans association (VSLA) support. A particular emphasis was placed on women’s empowerment, and leadership trainings and support to women’s self-help groups were provided.
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Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases and their risk factors are an increasing public health and development challenge in Turkey. This report provides evidence through three analyses that NCDs reduce economic output, and di...scusses potential options in response, outlining details of their relative returns on investment. An economic burden analysis shows that economic losses from NCDs are equivalent to 3.6% of gross domestic product. An intervention costing analysis provides an estimate of the funding required to implement a set of policy interventions for prevention and clinical interventions. A cost–benefit analysis compares these implementation costs with the estimated health gains and identifies which policy packages would give the greatest returns on investment.
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Guinea’s 450 megawatt Souapiti dam, scheduled to begin operating in September 2020, is the most advanced of several new hydropower projects planned by the government of President Alpha Condé. Guinea’s government believes that hydropower can significantly increase access to electricity in a cou...ntry where only a fraction of people have reliable access to power.Souapiti’s output, however, has a human cost. The dam’s reservoir will ultimately displace an estimated 16,000 people from 101 villages and hamlets. The Guinean government had moved 51 villages by the end of 2019 and said it planned to conduct the remaining resettlements within a year. Forced off their ancestral homes and farmlands, and with much of their land already, or soon to be flooded, displaced communities are struggling to feed their families, restore their livelihoods, and live with dignity.
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This is a report from a National, representative household survey carried out in Botswana in 2012 – 2014. The study was carried out on behalf of the Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Disabled Persons (FFO), Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled (SASFOD) and Botswana Federation of Disab...led People (BOFOD). The study was led by Professor Tlamelo Mmatli of the University of Botswana, in collaboration with SINTEF Technology and Society. The study would not have been possible without a strong commitment from the Office of the President of Botswana and support from the Central Statistical Office. The study presents a broad picture of the situation among individuals with disability and households with disabled members in Botswana. It offers comparison with individuals without disability and households without disabled members, between provinces and between genders and locations (urban/rural). The study reveals that households with disabled members and individuals with disability score lower on a range on indicators on level of living.
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